27 posts in this topic

From Battle.net

Raids in World of Warcraft have a long history of not just challenging players, but changing and evolving as the years and expansions go by. As with everything in the game, we’re always thinking about what more we can bring to raiding to improve the experience for an even wider range of players. While Normal and Heroic Raids are a great fit for many, we feel there’s another gap worth filling—and to that end, we’re currently working on the development of a new type of Raid for the next major content update: Flexible Raiding.

One Size Does Not Fit All

While it’s impossible to fit every player into a neat, tidy archetype, we recognize that we could be providing a better experience to one broad category of raider: social groups comprised predominantly of friends and family, and smaller guilds that do their best to include as many members in their Raid outings possible.

During the Wrath of the Lich Kingexpansion, the 10-player Normal difficulty served these groups of players pretty well, but the unification of 10-player and 25-player into a single difficulty effectively eliminated that niche. While Raid Finder mode is extremely accessible, it doesn’t provide smaller groups with a tight-knit social experience while progressing through the content. In Patch 5.4, we’re planning to introduce a new mode of raiding that allows us to deliver the sort of experience that we think these players are looking for.

/Flex

To fill this void, we’re in the process of developing a new Flexible Raid system, which includes a new difficulty that sits between Raid Finder and Normal difficulty, while still allowing friends, family, or pick-up groups to play together. This difficulty will be available for premade groups of 10–25 players, including any number in between. That means whether you have 11, 14, or 23 friends available for a Raid, they’ll all be able to participate.

The Flexible Raid system is designed so that the challenge level will scale depending on how many players you have in the Raid. So if you switch between 14 players one week and 22 the next, the difficulty will adjust automatically. Keep in mind that unlike Raid Finder, no matchmaking is available, so you’ll need to make sure you invite people to attend—but if some can’t make it, it’s not the end of the world (or the Raid). You’ll also still be able to invite Real ID or Battle.net friends cross-realm. Who you choose to bring and what Item Level gear they’ll need to join your merry band is up to you, too—there’s no Item Level requirement for this Raid difficulty.

Dressed to Kill

A new Raid difficulty also means a new Item Level. Flexible mode will award loot with an Item Level that falls between Raid Finder and Normal quality, and will use the Raid Finder’s “per person” loot system, specialization choices, and bonus rolls, so you won’t need to worry about bringing the “wrong” person and having them win that piece of gear you’ve long been waiting for.

You Have the Keys

We plan to unlock the Flexible Raid difficulty in wings, similar to Raid Finder, but on an accelerated timetable. This new difficulty also has a separate Raid lockout from Raid Finder and Normal difficulty, allowing you to take part in all three if you so desire. You’ll also be able to complete portions of your “Glory of the Orgrimmar Raider” raid meta- achievement in Flexible mode as well as in Normal or Heroic to earn cosmetic rewards such as an epic mount. This will allow Raid groups the opportunity to switch off nights between raids to complete achievements. Finally, taking part in Flexible, Normal, or Heroic difficulty will provide access to additional rewards that won’t be available in Raid Finder.

Getting Down to Brass Tacks

As with any in-development feature, we’re continuing to refine how the Flexible Raid system will work, and we look forward to hearing your constructive feedback from your experiences on the Public Test Realm when the new system goes live.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

But, I foresee double-pressure for non-elite, yet struggling for progression guilds: if new Flexible raid gear > current Heroic (it's a wide range from 535 to 549 though), then off-nights with flexible lockout clears will be somewhat mandatory during first month or so.

Edited June 8, 2013 by areanu

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I couldn't agree more. Our guild has been fighting the calendar boss, trying to make our two ten man teams into one 25man, and I saw this announcement as a blessing... Until I read that it would be a level between Reg. and LFR, which I don't think will completely satisfy anyone in our guild who wants to raid. So now we decide if we use Flex as another LFR for gearing while running our normal Reg. team? Or do we use it as another step of completion, one where we can include everyone, before going back to cutting people or pugging for Reg. mode? At least we have some time to figure it out.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

If you're playing for the gear for your team, this is basically an improvement over LFR since you don't need to pug and you get potentially better iLevel than LFR, making you only more capable for when it's time to do your Normal or whatever.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Nice idea, but how about taking it even further to allow smaller groups of friends, less than ten, to join as a group with others. Possibly along the lines of 2 or 5 guilds worth of five peeps to make a 10 or 25 man raid? Most small guilds have at least a core of members that do HC dungeons and scenarios as a guild on a regular basis.

I'm a member of a guild with about 80 members, but in reality there are only seven of us. Yes we can join LFR but we are all pretty maxed out on LFR gear plus VP purchased gear and would like to try harder raids without having to leave the guild. We could all leave the guild and run the gauntlet of elitist numptys who make you fill in an application form and are far too serious for general 'gameplay', (let's face it, it is still a game), but then why should we lose something that we have had for the last 3 years?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Nice idea, but how about taking it even further to allow smaller groups of friends, less than ten, to join as a group with others. Possibly along the lines of 2 or 5 guilds worth of five peeps to make a 10 or 25 man raid? Most small guilds have at least a core of members that do HC dungeons and scenarios as a guild on a regular basis.

I'm a member of a guild with about 80 members, but in reality there are only seven of us. Yes we can join LFR but we are all pretty maxed out on LFR gear plus VP purchased gear and would like to try harder raids without having to leave the guild. We could all leave the guild and run the gauntlet of elitist numptys who make you fill in an application form and are far too serious for general 'gameplay', (let's face it, it is still a game), but then why should we lose something that we have had for the last 3 years?

I think that what you stated here is possible, as long as you have a single organizer. My guild is planning to organize with other guilds (cross-realm) to form a large Flex raid. If your organization is good and you have friends elsewhere, then you can do that no problem.

About elitist numptys; some guilds are just full of idiots, but those guilds which are really worth joining (such as mine) use application forms to make sure that you're someone who will communicate with the rest of the guild and be friendly. Don't sneer at application forms! Our guild uses them to gauge the willingness of the applicant to chat to us about things, and it means that we get a very nice atmosphere from it. Anyway, I can't help feeling that I've drifted somewhat off-topic.

2

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I think it would have been great to perhaps go a little further and even made it range from 8 - 25. Therefore in small 10 man guilds if you have a few no shows etc and you don't want to PUG you can still /flex the raid and perhaps just lower the requirements.

Personally with LFR already a main stay in WoW I don't really see how this can be detrimental. LFR already allows players to see content and comprises mainly of wasters but this new system will give those who currently struggle to begin or learn raiding a structured environment without being too taxing on the mechanics.

I understand that there is a large proportion of players that clear normal content very easily but if you are new to WoW it can be tough to actually learn anything in a LFR environment. This flex will allow new players and guilds with flexible numbers to have a more structured evening that can perhaps engage non core raiders (so socials or the odd friend who doesn't raid) to give them a bit more experience of what a raid night is all about, without fear of being one shot.

LFR - joke for scrubs and time wasters

/flex - for guilds with varying numbers and players that wish to learn and improve (great for raider trials maybe too)

Normal - average raider

Heroic - hardcore raiders.

I must admit as an ex GM and raid leader I would have loved this during Cata to not only include a few fringe players, but to help bring up to speed new recruits and under geared. It could also see a much larger proportion of guilds that would love to raid 25man but aren't close enough to full numbers to be encouraged to at least give it a try.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I like the idea but not sure I care for how they are going to implement it. I see no reason why we need ANOTHER gear level. Why can't this share a loot lockout with LFR and provide the same ilvl drop? I like the idea of scaling between 8-25 that Peelyon brought up. I hope they expand upon this idea more towards scenarios and dungeons in the future and allow them to scale upwards to about 10-15 people.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

LFR should cease to exist. It's a debacle of an adventure and falls WELL short of delivering 'end-game content' for people who can't commit to a schedule. In fact, most of the people running LFR are people just starting or those trying to get into normal or heroic guilds. It's a gear collection place and no one killed Lei Shen in LFR and felt accomplished. Typical LFR Lei Shen's involve poor tank knowledge resulting in wipes and complete douchebaggery from the chat channel. It is horrendous.

IF, and it's a big IF, Flex replaced LFR, it could go to great lengths to give LFR what it SHOULD have been all along. LFR should never have been designed as a glorified non-heroic dungeon, which it is as it stands today. LFR should have helped in a situation where you have a 10 man raiding roster and a healer called off or didn't show. You "queue" for LFR and it finds a 10th person for you, perhaps some healer on a dead realm who all of a sudden gets to play with 9 other people in a group. IF, and again, a big IF, Flex allows this type of thing to happen, it will result in a GREAT success. Lesser progressed guilds can do a lower difficulty with as many friends as they want from WHEREVER they want. Now if you know a powerful friend, he/she can come help your group get some gear!

The ideal system, in my opinion, would be to allow you to designate how many people you want to queue for. Let's say 6 of you are online and you want to raid. Let's say you have 1 tank, 2 healers, and 3 DPS. Your friend's guild, on another server, has 1 tank and 4 DPS ready to go. Without Flex, someone would be left out. However, with Flex, you now have 2 tanks, 2 heals, and 7 DPS, or an 11 man team. Let's say you feel safer with one more healer...so you could queue and say you are looking for 1 healer. Bam, that lonely healer finds you, you clear content, and you win.

Pros:

Forces some sense of community back into this MMO. Face it...LFG has trivialized any sense of being nice to people. People are dicks and assholes in LFG and LFR and it's getting out of hand. Force some sense of community on people. If you're a well-known jerk, you won't get invited and your experience suffers. With Flex, you'll be raiding with people you are picking or chosen to raid with. Less anonymous faces behind screens being douchebags.

Better 'end-game' content in that it can be designed to have ALL of the mechanics of normal, but less painful. LFR has trivialized some mechanics of fights to the point you just ignore them, i.e Dark Animus. PULL ALL THE THINGS, KILL THEM, PULL MOAR, KILL THEM, KILL BOSS, LOL. Try that in normal and let me know how it works. It gives LFR players a false sense of how things are done in normal. Flex could require the proper strategy but maybe make the linking of the small golems much less painful, but still punishing if you ignore it. Another example is Durumu...LFR players think you have to find the Blue add and kill it. Try that in normal and see how that works out for you (hint: it doesn't)

Higher sense of accomplishment for lesser progressed players. Players will feel like they actually accomplished defeating a semi-challenging encounter rather than queueing, doing your DPS rotation, hoping for loot, and moving on.

There really aren't any downfalls if a system like this is implemented AND LFR is removed. If LFR is left in and they all have a separate lockout, then wow...will this game start to suck for those who care about gear. Every Tuesday, it'll be log-in, run LFR and HOPE you don't have a group wiping. After LFR, do your Flex raid and see the same content AGAIN. Oh, you raid at 730? Better finish all of that before then so you can see the same content AGAIN! You couldn't POSSIBLY leave a chance of upgrading gear behind, could you?

I think the direction they are taking with this is garbage. I can see it being a big success if they implement it the way I've laid it out, but that'll be a cold day in hell that we see that.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I agree about the comments on LFR and have voiced them elsewhere but it does look like it is here to stay.

I can't imagine they will share a lockout and gear level between LFR and /flex as then LFR would lose everyone who had any brain and it would become even more horrible than it is today. The only reason LFR functions now is the fact 'normal' raiders use it to gear up or play an alt for gear as well.

I do agree abut gearing though. Some players will take it to the extreme and literally farm LFR /flex world bosses etc all before their normal content just in the hope of getting that extra gear.

Blizzards 'problem' is that it is trying to please everybody, but a lot of the time it is alienating a lot as well. I'm not saying it is the reason why myself and a lot of my old guild have quit the game (that's real life tbh) but the fact I managed to kill a weakened version of bosses in LFR before I progressed through the normal modes did leave me with a sense of under achievement. Yeah the normal kills felt great, but it was never as exciting as getting the kill and moving on to a boss you had never seen before. Anyway I digress!!

8-25 man raids with a shared item level and lockout as LFR where you can 'tailor make' to your setup (so it registers you only have 2healers this raid because your 3rd healer couldn't turn up etc)

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

To totally go off topic, I still wish LFR was 1 tier behind current content. It's purpose was to allow people to see raids. Leave Heroic Dungeons and Scenarios as the gear up method for normal or now flex raiding.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Yup totally agree, or to try and keep it on topic, have /flex as current tier that is weakened to allow flexibility for regular raiding guilds and weeks where numbers are different to normal and still have LFR 1 tier behind

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

A note about sub-10 numbers; I saw one quote from one of the Dev's about 9- or 8-man /flex, and they said that they weren't happy with designing for less than ten players in a raid. This is because they think that it's important to have at least 2 tanks and 2 healers in the raid to design meaningful mechanics, and they won't be massively re-designing fights just for flex. ANYWAY onto talking about LFR and Flex...

I have no beef whatsoever with how LFR functions currently as a place for people with little time to go and experience raid content. I think it's a great idea and that it's important to the all-inclusive ethos of the current development of WoW. Moreover, having personal friends who enjoy LFR because they get to raid, I think that WoW would be worse if LFR just disappeared tomorrow.

What I do hate about it is the fact that I feel forced to do it in order to be "competitive" i.e. satisfy others' expectations of my gear. This is down to the ilevel and the ilevel alone. I don't enjoy LFR because I don't feel challenged or engaged, but I have to be there because otherwise I won't be meeting expectations. Given the opportunity, I wouldn't go to LFR. In fact, I still believe that those entering Normal modes (especially the first tier in an expansion) for the first time should not have epics, for two reasons; 1) Because that makes you appreciate them a whole lot more than gaining the same thing with a different number on it, and 2) because there is no better feeling than stepping into a raid with all-blues and coming out knowing that you achieved something against the odds.

One thing I fear for /flex raids is that this will turn into another mandatory gear-grind with no challenge or meaning, wearing away at my patience until I bite somebody's head off in frustration. Flex needs to be an interesting and social experience like Normals and Hardmodes are, not "LFR+" as some people have started calling it. In this aspect, I'm glad that there will be no queuing for Flex. I don't want random people coming into my raid, I want people who are socially connected to me - friends of friends, battletags; people who if they are dicks can't just get away with it. This is one of the major good points of /flex as I see it now.

Finally, I think that /flex is good for pugging. I don't know about the rest of you, but pugging on Ghostlands is dead. There are no raid pugs. I sincerely miss having that opportunity, and I think that /flex will bring back the on-server pug for low- to mid-pop realms like mine. This is undoubtedly a good step for the community in WoW.

PS: WALL OF TEXT!!

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I totally understand that they don't want to restructure fights but I think it could still be possible to have 2 tanks 2 healers and say 4-5 dps, so if you are missing a dps or a healer (if you 3 heal) then they just tune the health and damage done by the boss accordingly. I think having a fight that always requires 2tanks should always require 2 tanks, and you can't really expect someone to solo heal a raid with 9 people in (I understand some people can do this but I meant the majority of the WoW population).

Having a aid setup for 10 people and 1 not showing up for a valid reason can ruin a raid (I understand you can pug etc but some people don't want to) so hopefully as long as there is a minimum of 2 healers and 2 tanks then it would have been a nice feature.

Sadly from your point of view Stoove (which I totally agree with) I think blizzard would be afraid to not give a gear incentive to those that do LFR like I mentioned. If you didn't need gear me and you wouldn't queue right? So who would? Scrubs afkers and the 1-2 genuine people who have no time for anything but LFR and let's face it, without regular raiders LFR groups wouldn't even down Morchok

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Yeah my Warlock's LFR groups will be missing my DPS where I beat 2nd place by 100k once I get my legendary cloak acquired and quit going in there. Usually me and a guildy Mage will queue together, decimate the bosses ridiculously fast and be done with it. When I go back through on my crap Shaman, no one in the group to carry me and the success of those groups is not nearly as fast or as fluid as with my Warlock.

There are only two motivational tools to get you in LFR if you don't need gear...

1) Legendary items

2) Satchels

When you finish legendary items, you only have gold and satchels to look forward to. In my experience, the satchels give me worthless armor potions and gold. I'd say I've gotten over 100 satchels between all my characters in LFR and have seen every bag contain only gold all times but two. The two that weren't gold I got a armor potion and a 483 BoE set of Agi Mail bracers. Thankfully, those sold for some nice coin, but I'm not going into LFR fishing for BoEs.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I actually think that a severely reduced ilvl is the way to go with LFR. Hear me out on this one!

LFR without incentives would be awful, but that's not the only alternative; you can have incentives (i.e. upgrades from Heroic 5-mans) without giving out epic tier gear. In my mind, I have a situation where 5-mans give blue gear and LFR gives blue gear with a slightly higher ilvl - say +7 ilevels. Raiding (even /flex) would then be significantly higher ilevel and epic. Then, as new tiers come in, LFR can provide the player with gear which is sufficient for /flex raiding (perhaps on the previous tier's ilevel) but still be blue. Going from Normal or /flex T17 to Normal or /flex T18 is then skipping LFR mostly, and going from fresh to Normal is a progression; 5-mans, LFR, then /flex and Normals.

I think that the T11 model of raiding beginning with blues was really excellent, and I liked it like that. I'd be happy with a system that gave me catch-up gear which was just sufficient in the way that I've described, but realistically no better than the previous tier.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

It is a severely reduced item level. It's 20 item levels lower than normal stuff while the bridge from normal to heroic is only 13 item levels.

Where were you when MSV just came out and we all had mostly blues? This wasn't exclusive to T11. I know when I killed Feng and got my 489 chest piece, it was a HUGE upgrade from my 463 blue. Same with my shoulders when I killed Gara'jal the first week. I agree with you on the lowered item level of LFR. I think it should be a larger difference than it is today.

T7 Blues = 200

T7 Epics = 200/213

T8 Epics = 219/232 (10 vs 25)

T9 Epics = 232/245 (10 vs 25)

T10 Epics = 251/264/277 (10 vs 25/10 Heroic vs 25 Heroic)

This model was good...it made previous gear not awful to make it into the next mode. 232 gear was accessible and not HORRID for ICC, but you weren't going to tank Heroic Festergut wearing all 232s. This, however, had the separate gear for 10/25, so throw this one out.

T11 Blues = 346

T11 Epics = 359/372

T12 Epics = 378/391

T13 Epics = 397/410

Similar gap was used here where Heroic gear from a previous tier was just barely worse than normal gear from the next tier, but if your 372's were properly itemized, they could be better than 378s. However, eventually you wanted your 391s. Similarly between T12 and T13. If I were to redo Cataclysm with an LFR system, this is how I would have made it look:

T11 Blues = 346

T11 Epics = 378/391

T11 LFR = 359

T12 Epics = 397/410

T12 LFR = 378

T13 Epics = 416/429

T13 LFR = 397

This would have made LFR gear significantly better than dungeon gear but still nowhere close to normal/heroic gear. This model would also use similar item level of the current LFR gear to previous normal gear. This is because most raids were nerfed after a new one was released making its normal modes more accessible. This means that you could play at lady luck's RNG in LFR to get 378's in Firelands LFR or get 378's in normal Bastion of Twilight/Blackwing Descent. This would serve two purposes:

Gearing up would be fun. Today, if you don't get loot out of LFR, you probably don't go back and do normal MSV. Why? Because the item level of stuff is 489. Why bother when LFR can give 502 stuff? Even 496 stuff is frowned upon even if it's only 6 item levels lower.

It would also keep older raids relevent for an additional tier. It would make PuGs more numerous, increase the number of raids, and increase the overall skill of the playerbase because they wouldn't be pining in LFR all the time. This would create a more enjoyable environment for all. At least in my picture of how it would play out.

Similarly, here's how I'd redo Mists based on my model:

T14 Blues = 463

T14 Epics = 496/509

T14 LFR = 476

T15 Epics = 515/528

T15 LFR = 496

T16 Epics = 534/547

T16 LFR = 515

The item levels keep the consistency where the first Tier's epics are 33 item levels higher than the blues, but LFR is only 13 points above the blues. It also makes the jump in normal item level 19 item levels while keeping the previous tier's normal item level as the next tier's LFR item level. This model also would have prevented the HUGE inflation of DPS and HPS that we are seeing in the mechanics that, mark my words, will get TRULY out of hand in T16. We can get a bloody item level 608 cloak for crying out loud. Right now that seems absurd, but based on their current model, I would predict normal item levels in T16 to be 548 and heroics will be 561. Upgraded heroic gear will be 569, which is likely what we will end the tier at.

These are the ramblings of a lone theorycrafter and idealist that thinks things aren't as consistent, number friendly, or explainable as they could be. Others may wholeheartedly disagree, but I can't explain the differences in gear levels present or the lack of foresight that could have predicted the end of relevant raiding from the previous tier when I think I've provided a pretty reasonable solution to keep previous tiers of raiding relevant much like Burning Crusade did (or so I hear, since I didn't play then.)

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

It is a severely reduced item level. It's 20 item levels lower than normal stuff while the bridge from normal to heroic is only 13 item levels.

Where were you when MSV just came out and we all had mostly blues? This wasn't exclusive to T11. I know when I killed Feng and got my 489 chest piece, it was a HUGE upgrade from my 463 blue. Same with my shoulders when I killed Gara'jal the first week. I agree with you on the lowered item level of LFR. I think it should be a larger difference than it is today.

My guild fell apart and I had to do LFR to get any kills. Then I took a break from WoW until just after ToT came out! I missed that kind of fun progression with low ilevel. However, when I came back and started ToT I was ilevels well below the minimum, and I enjoyed the challenge from that!

It would also keep older raids relevent for an additional tier. It would make PuGs more numerous, increase the number of raids, and increase the overall skill of the playerbase because they wouldn't be pining in LFR all the time. This would create a more enjoyable environment for all. At least in my picture of how it would play out.

No, I agree there. I think that flex has a good role to play here as well, since it's genuinely a step in difficulty from LFR (and I quote "closer to Normal than LFR") it can afford to reward that progression with some kind of middle ilevel. Remember that this isn't going to be some trivial raid (for the target audience rather than HM raiders). The only problem I can see with this is that there will then be three lockouts, making /flex to be the new "mandatory" tier. I would propose that /flex shares a lockout with Normal and Heroic to remedy this. GC stated that they weren't going to make LFR and /flex shared, and since it's closer to Normal anyway I'd suggest that it's a better solution. Of course, that will have it's own problems associated with it such as; what happens if I kill bosses 1-3 on /flex, then want to progress on 4 on Normal? Or what if I'm stuck on 4 and I use /flex to get past it?

We can get a bloody item level 608 cloak for crying out loud. Right now that seems absurd, but based on their current model, I would predict normal item levels in T16 to be 548 and heroics will be 561. Upgraded heroic gear will be 569, which is likely what we will end the tier at.

These are the ramblings of a lone theorycrafter and idealist that thinks things aren't as consistent, number friendly, or explainable as they could be.

I think that (based on my exp from Cata) we can expect massive inflation anyway, even without the effect of ilevel bloat! Anyway, idealism is a force for good :)

The item levels keep the consistency where the first Tier's epics are 33 item levels higher than the blues, but LFR is only 13 points above the blues. It also makes the jump in normal item level 19 item levels while keeping the previous tier's normal item level as the next tier's LFR item level. This model also would have prevented the HUGE inflation of DPS and HPS that we are seeing in the mechanics that, mark my words, will get TRULY out of hand in T16. We can get a bloody item level 608 cloak for crying out loud. Right now that seems absurd, but based on their current model, I would predict normal item levels in T16 to be 548 and heroics will be 561. Upgraded heroic gear will be 569, which is likely what we will end the tier at...

Hellz to the yeah! Exactly what I want!

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Some really good stuff there, which for the most part seems common sense. It's a real shame /flex and LFR won't share a lockout. I would prefer it not to to share a lockout with normals as you are then torn between your basic progression and raiding.

So for example it's reset day and you have a raid planned but you are missing 3 of your best raiders. You have a few socials and fringe players online tht you could easily /flex with but then the majority of your raid are saved to bosses you kill. In that situation most guilds would still cancel the raid and just wait until the net raid night.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Some really good stuff there, which for the most part seems common sense. It's a real shame /flex and LFR won't share a lockout. I would prefer it not to to share a lockout with normals as you are then torn between your basic progression and raiding.

So for example it's reset day and you have a raid planned but you are missing 3 of your best raiders. You have a few socials and fringe players online tht you could easily /flex with but then the majority of your raid are saved to bosses you kill. In that situation most guilds would still cancel the raid and just wait until the net raid night.

On the other hand, bear in mind that the main target audience is for people who LFR because they got pushed out of 10's when they got harder in Cataclysm. In this case, as GC pointed out, you don't want the situation where someone says "Hey dude, come join our flex raid" only to get the reply "sorry, I did LFR on Sunday".This is a good reason not to put /flex and LFR on the same lockout. However, you're right in that it would be a shame to have to give up on a week of Normal raiding due to being locked to /flex.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Yeah I think that the target audience for /flex are the people who got left out when the transition from 10s as casual to 10s as serious happened at the start of Cataclysm. That's a good niche to please IMO :) But yes, I do hope that it's used to improve the LFR situation too.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

On the other hand, bear in mind that the main target audience is for people who LFR because they got pushed out of 10's when they got harder in Cataclysm. In this case, as GC pointed out, you don't want the situation where someone says "Hey dude, come join our flex raid" only to get the reply "sorry, I did LFR on Sunday".This is a good reason not to put /flex and LFR on the same lockout. However, you're right in that it would be a shame to have to give up on a week of Normal raiding due to being locked to /flex.

This is why I would rather have a loot lockout (just like LFR is now) to where you only get one roll (+ any number of bonus rolls you have saved up) and have the ilvl's be the same.

Recently Browsing
0 members

Similar Content

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.
Patch Information
Siege of Orgrimmar: Feature Overview
5.4 Patch Notes 5.4 Known Issues
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
Classes
Death Knight
General
Reduced Death Strike's healing by 50% for Blood Death Knights in Arenas.
Druid
Talents
The Dream of Cenarius effect is now removed when the Druid switches talents.
Mage
Class Armor
Resolved an issue that could cause the Tier-16 2-piece set bonus Frozen Thoughts to be consumed without effect. Tier-15 4-piece set bonus now increases the effects of Arcane Charges by 5% per stack (down from 20% per stack).
Monk
General
Tigereye Brew and Mana Tea gains from Chi Brew now correctly benefit from Mastery: Bottled Fury and Brewing: Mana Tea.
Priest
Holy
Mastery: Echo of Light's healing has been increased by 4%.
Warlock
General
Damage from Soul Link should no longer incorrectly activate the Voidlord's Void Shield effect.
Talents
Archimonde's Darkness' effect should now be correctly removed when the Warlock switches talents or glyphs.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
The number of guild members needed to be considered a guild Group in Flexible difficulty has been reduced. Previously, the number of guild members required in Flexible difficulty didn’t account for the scaling group size. It now requires 80% of the current group size, rounded down.
Siege of Orgrimmar
Norushen
The number of Look Within orbs spawned by Norushen in Flexible difficulty will now round up instead of down, so that the ratio of orbs to players is never worse than on Normal difficulty.
Galakras
Reduced the health of ranking officials and foot soldiers in Phase 1 of the encounter on 10-player Normal difficulty. The portal leading back to the Vault of Y'Shaarj can no longer be used while in combat.
Kor'kron Dark Shaman
Ashen Wall, Toxic Storm, Toxic Mist, Foul Stream, and Foul Geyser now deal less damage on Raid Finder difficulty.
Spoils of Pandaria
Reduced the health of most of the creatures during the Spoils of Pandaria encounter on Raid Finder difficulty. Having multiple players start the encounter should no longer incorrectly cause the timer to count down rapidly.
Thok the Bloodthirsty
Captive Cave Bats on Raid Finder difficulty will no longer incorrectly drop Normal difficulty loot.
Garrosh Hellscream
Garrosh Hellscream should now use his abilities more predictably when starting Stage Three: MY WORLD. Hellscream's Warsong now grants a 75% increase to Physical damage dealt and health (down from 125%) on Raid Finder difficulty. Touch of Y'Shaarj now has a 4-second cast time for players (up from 3 seconds) on Raid Finder difficulty. Reduced the health of Minions of Y'shaarj on Raid Finder difficulty. [Requires a realm restart.] Kor'kron Reapers now deal less damage on Raid Finder difficulty. [Requires a realm restart.] Minion of Y'Shaarj's Empowering Corruption now heals for 15% of health (down from 30%) and increases damage dealt by 20% (down from 50%) on Raid Finder difficulty. [Requires a realm restart.] Harbinger of Y'Shaarj's Y'Shaarj Touched now heals for 2% of health per second (down from 5%) and increases damage dealt by 20% (down from 50%) on Raid Finder difficulty.
Mogu'shan Vaults
Resolved an issue that prevented players from completing the Straight Six achievement.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
[Requires a realm restart.] Silvershard Mines: The eastern mine cart now doesn't spawn in until shortly after the gates open.
Arenas
[Requires a realm restart.] The Crowd Chose You has been removed and replaced with a debuff called Dampening. [Requires a realm restart.] For Arena matches that last more than 10 minutes, all players in the Arena will begin to receive Dampening.
Dampening is a stacking debuff applied to all players in the Arena every 10 seconds. Each stack of Dampening reduces all healing and damage absorption by 1%. If neither team has won after 20 minutes, the Arena match will end in a draw. Necrotic Strike's healing absorption is not affected by Dampening.
Players who pick up a Shadow Sight orb will be unable to stealth for the duration of the effect.
Quests
Timeless Treasures: Weekly treasure chests on the Timeless Isle can now grant credit towards completing this quest.
Professions
Cooking
Noodle cart chefs will now receive a well-fed buff while serving other players bowls of noodle soup.
Items
Nazgrim's Burnished Insignia's should no longer be incorrectly activating from actions that aren't helpful spells. Ticking Ebon Detonator's should no longer be incorrectly activating from actions that aren't attacks. Protection Paladins are now eligible to receive the following items with via personal loot (Raid Finder and Flexible difficulty) and bonus rolls (all difficulty modes).
Siege of Orgrimmar: Bubble-Burst Bracers, Corruption-Rotted Gauntlets, Darkfallen Shoulderplates, Demolisher's Reinforced Belt, Legplates of Unthinking Strife, Poisonbinder Girth, and Thranok's Shattering Helm. Ordos: Magdalena's Murderous Crown, Partik's Purified Legplates, Remnar's Ruinous Girdle, Rossi's Rosin-Soaked Shoulderplates, and Vanguard's Burly Bracers.
(source)

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.
Patch Information
Siege of Orgrimmar: Feature Overview
5.4 Patch Notes 5.4 Known Issues
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
Timeless Isle
Resolved an issue that could cause some weekly treasure chests on the Timeless Isle to be uninteractible.
Classes
Death Knight
General
Death and Decay, Howling Blast, and Pestilence should no longer incorrectly grant a radius bonus when cast while the Death Knight is moving. Resolved a visual issue caused by Death Knights using a Glyphed version of Horn of Winter while transformed by the Rime of the Time-Lost Mariner.
Class Armor
Tier-16 DPS 2-piece set effect should no longer incorrectly cause stacks of the buff to provide no bonus under certain conditions.
Druid
General
Casting Healing Touch should no longer incorrectly consume both bonuses from Soul of the Forest and Sage Mender (Tier-16 Restoration 2-piece set bonus) at the same time.
Class Armor
Resolved certain situations that could cause the Tier-16 Guardian 4-piece heal-over-time effect to heal for less than intended.
Restoration
To help address issues with input lag, Efflorescence now heals for twice as much every 2 seconds (was once every 1 second). Additional adjustments have been made so the total amount healed by Efflorescence from Swiftmend, Force of Nature Treants, and Wild Mushroom remains unchanged.
Monk
Class Armor
Mistweaver PvP 2-piece set bonus should no longer cause the Monk to stand up when they gain a charge of Mana Tea.
Paladin
Holy
Holy Radiance should correctly benefit from Holy Avenger once more.
Class Armor
Corrected an issue where Divine Purpose and the Tier-16 Retribution 4-piece bonus was not interacting properly with each other.
Priest
Holy
To help address issues with input lag, Mastery: Echo of Light now heals for three times as much every 3 seconds (was once every 1 second). Total amount healed remains unchanged.
Shadow
To help address issues with input lag, Vampiric Embrace now heals every second instead of every time the Priest deals Shadow spell damage. The total amount healed remains unchanged.
Class Armor
Corrected an issue where the Tier-16 Shadow 4-piece set bonus was improperly applying the damage bonus to additional spells when multiple instant cast spells are cast at the same time.
Rogue
Talents
Corrected an issue with Cloak and Dagger that could allow Rogues to bypass some targeting and line-of-sight restrictions.
Shaman
General
To help address issues with input lag, Stormlash Totem's Stormlash effect now has a 20% chance to activate but deals 5 times more damage (down from a 100% chance to activate). Overall damage output should remain unchanged.
Warlock
General
Grimoire of Sacrifice should no longer incorrectly reduce spell damage while Fire and Brimstone is also active.
Affliction
Haunt should no longer incorrectly increase the damage of non-periodic spells.
Warrior
General
Resolved an issue with Whirlwind where polearms equipped in the off-hand slot were not hitting enemies.
Talents
Corrected an issue that allowed Warriors to cast Storm Bolt while under the effects of a Hex.
Quests
The Celestial Tournament: Players can now get credit for winning the tournament while in a raid group.
Creatures
Players should no longer be incorrectly flagged as having defeated Ordos for the week if the player tapped him and went offline or entered an instance. Yu'lon now launches 5 Jadefire Bolts (down from 10). Gulp Frogs are now immune to mind control abilities. Magnataurs can no longer be pickpocketed. Dame Evniki Kapsalis is now offering her wares to players that meet the proper criteria once again. Evermaw's spawn is no longer tied to Dread Ship Vazuvius. Moonfang should now always drop something when defeated. [Requires a realm restart] Engaging Ordos in combat will no longer cause the Ordon Sanctuary gate to close. Added an upper limit to the number of wolves that could be summoned by Moonfang's Call the Pack ability. Flik and Flik's Frog should no longer incorrectly wind up under the terrain on Darkmoon Island.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Siege of Orgrimmar
Norushen
Resolved an issue that could cause the Overconfidence debuff to persist after defeating Zeal.
Sha of Pride
Resolved an issue that could cause Corrupted Prisons to stop functioning. Resolved an issue that could cause Unstable Corruption rifts to stop forming on 25-player Heroic difficulty.
Kor'kron Dark Shaman
Wavebinder Kardris should no longer target non-players with Toxic Storm. Darkfang and Bloodclaw should now move around significantly less while being tanked alongside their masters. Resolved an issue that could cause Blind Blademasters in the Drag to enter combat with players during the Dark Shaman encounter. Reduced the amount of hostile NPCs in the areas leading up to the Dark Shaman encounter on Raid Finder difficulty.
General Nazgrim
Reduced the amount of hostile NPCs in the areas leading up to General Nazgrim on Raid Finder difficulty.
Malkorok
Resolved an issue where Malkorok may sometimes fail to respawn after a soft reset of the raid instance on Heroic difficulty.
Thok the Bloodthirsty
Creatures leading up to the encounter with Thok the Bloodthirsty are now skinnable.
Spoils of Pandaria
Modified Anima Golem's Matter Scramble should now always spawn on the floor. Resolved an issue that would sometimes cause a Burial Urn's Spark of Life to path to the wrong area. Resolved a situation that could cause the encounter to not reset correctly if the player starting the encounter dies immediately. Corrected an issue where Spark of Life had more health than intended on Flexible difficulty. Blade of the Hundred Steps should now only be applied to one tank per quadrant in Normal and Heroic difficulties.
Siegecrafter Blackfuse
Demonic Circles are now cleared when the encounter starts.
Paragons of the Klaxxi
Resolved certain situations that could cause players to retain the Paragons' abilities after resetting the encounter. Resolved an issue where the last surviving raid member using a threat drop may cause the encounter to not reset correctly.
Garrosh Hellscream
Garrosh Hellscream now drops two Kor'kron Juggernauts on 25-player Heroic difficulty. (Requires realm restarts to take effect.) Garrosh Hellscream should no longer use Malice against players who have an Iron Star fixated on them on Heroic difficulty.
Dungeons
Shado-Pan Monastery: Defeating Gu Cloudstrike immediately after Azure Serpent has been killed should no longer prevent players from continuing through the Shado-Pan Monastery.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
Grievous Gladiator weapons have a level requirement of 90 once more. PvP on-use trinket effects should no longer incorrectly scale down while in a Battleground, Rated Battleground, or Arena.
Items
Trinkets with cleave and multistrike effects no longer require players to be facing the target to successfully deal damage.
(source)

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.
Patch Information
Siege of Orgrimmar: Feature Overview
5.4 Patch Notes 5.4 Known Issues
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
Timeless Isle
Bloody Coins are now only awarded from defeating Level-90 players. Removed the silver icons for Master Kukuru and Whizzig on the mini-map. The following bind-on-pickup items are no longer able to be traded between players: Burden of Eternity, Reins of the Thundering Onyx Cloud Serpent, Cauterizing Core, Falling Flame, Golden Moss, Giant Purse of Timeless Coins, Ash-Covered Horn, and Elixir of Ancient Knowledge.
Classes
Death Knights
General
Control Undead should no longer prevent Frost or Blood specializations from using Raise Dead while Control Undead is active. Raise Dead and Wild Mushroom: Plague (obtained through Druid's Symbiosis) should no longer cause each other's summons to despawn.
Druid
Balance
Astral Communion should now behave correctly if a Druid changes glyphs, talents, or specialization while an Eclipse is active.
Talents
Dream of Cenarius (Feral) should no longer incorrectly cause Treants to deal extra damage. Dream of Cenarius (Guardian) should now properly affect the free version of Healing Touch to benefit from Attack Power.
Class Armor
Tier-16 Guardian 2-piece set bonus should no longer cause Frenzied Regeneration to incorrectly consume 60 Rage for Druids with Glyph of Frenzied Regeneration active. Tier-16 Guardian 4-piece set bonus
Fixed a number of situations where the effect was not activating when it should. Fixed an issue where the 4-piece bonus could cause the 2-piece bonus to incorrectly consume 60 Rage.
Monk
General
Roll should now work while under the effects of Scuttler's Shell.
Brewmaster
Brewmasters now deals 5.6% less damage with all attacks (-15% in total).
Paladin
Holy
Fixed an issue where Holy Radiance may sometimes heal less players than intended.
Priest
General
Prayer of Mending's healing should now be correctly modified by Battle Fatigue.
Holy
Lightwell's healing should now be correctly modified by PvP Power while the Glyph of Lightwell is active.
Warlock
General
Command Demon can no longer be cast while the pet is stunned or feared.
Affliction
Agony's damage has been reduced by 15%.
Destruction
Flames of Xoroth should no longer incorrectly cause revived demons to lose Soul Link.
Warrior
Class Armor
Tier-16 Protection 2-piece set bonus should no longer be healing the Warrior before the damage has been applied.
Quests
Trial At The Temple of the White Tiger: Players should no longer be able to acquire this quest before completing A Witness to History. Work Order: Golden Lotus I: The quest should now be obtainable once more for players that have met the necessary prerequisites.
Creatures
Scary Sprite now deals 40% less damage and should spawn slightly more frequently.
Pet Battles
Bonkers can now be sold to a vendor for 25 gold. Jadefire Spirit's Fade ability now has an 8-round cooldown. Pierre is no longer bind-on-pickup and players can have up to 3 of them. Rascal-Bot is no longer bind-on-pickup and players can have up to 3 them. The Phaser ability now has a duration of 1-round.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Siege of Orgrimmar
The Fallen Protectors
Sun Tenderheart's Shadow Word: Bane no longer has a slight delay before applying its damage.
Norushen
Fixed an issue where Amalgam of Corruption's Unleashed Anger was not always hitting the tank. Fixed an issue where Amalgam of Corruption's Blind Hatred may hit players who were not in the beam.
Galakras
Galakras should no longer be able to be damaged or debuffed before landing in Phase 2.
Kor'kron Dark Shaman
Changes on Raid Finder difficulty:
Wavebinger Kardris' Falling Ash now deals 200,000 Fire damage (down from 999,999). Foul Slimes' Foulness aura now deals 30,000 Nature damage (down from 50,000).
Fixed an issue where placement of Earthbreaker Haromm's Ashen Wall was not always perpendicular to the direction he's facing.
General Nazgrim Changes on Raid Finder difficulty:
General Nazgrim's health has been reduced by 10%. General Nazgrim's Ravager now hits for 200,000 damage. General Nazgrim now gains 1 Rage when struck in Defensive Stance (down from 2 Rage). General Nazgrim now gains 2 Rage for each target struck by Heroic Shockwave's Aftershocks (down from 3 Rage). General Nazgrim now gains 2 Rage from Kor'kron Banner (down from 3 Rage). Kor'kron Warshaman's Earth Shield now heals for 2% of maximum health (down from 5%). Kor'kron Warshaman's Empowered Chain Heal now heals for 4% of maximum health (down from 10%).
Siegecrafter Blackfuse
Players are now immune to Superheated while being pulled off the conveyer belt. Shockwave Missile no longer hits players that are exiting a transport pipe.
Paragons of the Klaxxi
Ka'roz the Locust should now always jump back down from the platform after using Hurl Amber. Kaz'tik the Manipulator's Hungry Kunchongs should no longer be able to gain Thick Shell while using Devour on a Mesmerized player. Hisek the Swarmkeeper should no longer Fire a beam at the target if he gets encased in Amber while casting Aim.
Garrosh Hellscream
Garrosh Hellscream should no longer be using Desecrate against players that are on a balcony. Farseer Wolf Riders should no longer continuously attempt to cast Ancestral Chain Heal if they're hit by an Iron Star before entering combat. Kor'kron Iron Stars now properly deal damage to Kor’kron Warbringers and Farseer Wolf Riders on 25-player Heroic difficulty, and can no longer unintentionally kill players that were not struck directly.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
Players that leave a Rated Battleground prematurely will be unable to queue for a new one until the previous Rated Battleground match has completed. Please see this forum thread for more information on the change.
Professions
Cooking
Buffs and debuffs should now be properly applied or removed while players are in a noodle cart.
Items
Rain Stone, Blizzard Stone, Ashen Stone, and Sunset Stone are no longer able to be used while in a raid instance. Book of Ages should no longer remove food buffs on the character when used.
(source)

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.
Patch Information
Siege of Orgrimmar: Feature Overview
5.4 Patch Notes 5.4 Known Issues
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
Timeless Isle
Fixed an issue where defeating rare creatures while in a raid group may sometimes incorrectly display a loot cursor or sparkle effect when the creature has no loot. Vision of Time items can no longer be used while in a Raid Finder raid until the wing has been completed. Fishing in the waters surrounding Timeless Isle should now yield different fish than in the lakes within Timeless Isle.
Classes
Death Knight
Talents
Runic Corruption activating multiple times should no longer cause the ability to extend its duration by an incorrect amount.
Druid
General
Rip's damage has been increased by 20%. Druids should no longer cast One with Nature while being mind-controlled by NPCs.
Talents
Nature's Vigil should now properly increase the Druid's healing by 12%.
Class Armor
Tier-16 Guardian 2-piece bonus now automatically applies both a 3-second Savage Defense and a 20-Rage Frenzied Regeneration when Barkskin fades. The automatic version of Frenzied Regeneration no longer triggers a global cooldown and is not affected by the Tier-15 Guardian 2-piece bonus.
Hunter
Marksmanship
Chimera Shot's damage has been increased by 50%.
Survival
Explosive Shot's damage has been increased by 10%.
Mage
General
Ice Lance's damage has been increased by 20%. Waterbolt's damage has been increased by 10%.
Monk
Brewmaster
Brewmasters now deal 10% less damage with all attacks.
Mistweaver
Renewing Mist no longer requires line-of-sight to jump to a nearby target.
Paladin
Talents
Eternal Flame's heal-over-time effect is increased by 50% when used on the Paladin (down from 100%).
Priest
General
Shadow Word: Pain's damage has been reduced by 15%.
Discipline
Flash Heal now should correctly receive an increased critical chance from Inner Focus while Surge of Light is active.
Rogue
Assassination
Assassin's Resolve now increases the Rogue's damage by 20% (down from 25%).
Subtlety
Sanguinary Vein now causes the Rogue to deal 35% additional damage to targets afflicted by Rupture, Garrote, or Crimson Tempest (up from 25%).
Class Armor
Tier-16 4-piece set bonus should no longer incorrectly activate from attacks other than Backstab.
Shaman
General
Flametongue Weapon's Flametongue Attack effect now deals 50% more damage. Lightning Bolt's damage has been increased by 10%.
Enhancement
Windfury Weapon's Windfury Attack effect now deals 50% more damage.
Warlock
Affliction
Haunt now increases all periodic damage against the target by 35% (down from 40%).
Demonology
Wild Imps' Fel Firebolt now deals 30% less damage.
Destruction
Immolate's damage has been increased by 30%.
Warrior
Fury
Bloodthirst's damage has been increased by 20%. Raging Blow's damage has been increased by 20%.
Creatures
Loot notifications for world bosses in Pandaria should no longer be visible to all members in the raid.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Siege of Orgrimmar
Immerseus
Corrosive Blast now has a greatly increased range.
Norushen
Reduced the number of Fragments of Pride patrolling the area leading up to Norushen on Raid Finder difficulty. A number of changes have been made to Norushen on Heroic difficulty.
Starting Corruption for all players is now 75. Residual Corruption and Burst of Anger no longer pulse additional raidwide Corruption. Expel Corruption no longer increases the target’s Corruption. Increased the health of the Amalgam of Corruption to offset the reduced Corruption generated by external sources. The Purified buff no longer persists after gaining additional Corruption.
Kor'kron Dark Shaman
Kor’kron Shadowmage’s Mind Spike ability now deals less damage on Raid Finder and Flexible Raid difficulty. Kor'kron Warshaman's Healing Tide Totem now has less hit points on Raid Finder difficulty. Kor'kron Supplies no longer spawn on Raid Finder difficulty.
Siegecrafter Blackfuse
Automatic Repair Beam should now always be properly applied to Automated Shredders when they get near Siegecrafter Blackfuse.
Paragons of the Klaxxi
Ka'roz the Locust should no longer damage players in his path while dashing towards a ledge to Hurl Amber. Players in a damage-dealing specialization that have already interacted with Rik'kal the Dissector should now be able to interact with Skeer the Bloodseeker.
Garrosh Hellscream
The Y’Shaarj Touched buff can no longer be spellstolen.
Ulduar
Fixed an issue with the Yogg-Saron encounter, where players were unable to proceed to phase 2 of the fight by damaging Sara.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
Players should no longer be unable to cast spells or use items after repeatedly using restricted items while in a Wargame. Grievous Conquest achievement vendors (the ones that allow Conquest gear to be purchase with Honor points) have been temporarily removed. Grievous Gladiator weapons have a temporary level requirement of 91.
Items
Reduced the activation rate for caster and healer Legendary cloak effects for characters in a tanking specialization by 75%. Evil Eye of Galakras was only reducing the cooldown on 5 abilities for Warriors. The trinket should now also reduce the cooldown of Heroic Leap. Unerring Vision of Lei Shen now has a 40% reduced chance to activate its effect for Warlocks. Oddly-Shaped Horn is no longer usable while in the Battlegrounds or Rated Battlegrounds. Tuft of Yak Fur is no longer usable while in the Battlegrounds or Rated Battlegrounds.
(source)

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.
Patch Information
Siege of Orgrimmar: Feature Overview
5.4 Patch Notes 5.4 Known Issues
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
General
With the conclusion of the Battlefield: Barrens event, realm coalescing has been re-enabled for the Durotar area.
Classes
Death Knight
Glyphs
Glyph of Regenerative Magic should no longer improperly increase the cooldown on Anti-Magic Shell when a small amount of absorption remaining as it expires.
Druid
General
Nature's Grasp triggering Entangling Roots should no longer be incorrectly using up Nature's Swiftness.
Hunters
General
Deterrence should now correctly have a 5-second cooldown after using a charge for Hunters with the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Chimera talent.
Monks
Talents
Xuen summoned by Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger should now be able to use Crackling Tiger Lightning against Aberration type creatures.
Rogue
Combat
Killing Spree's range is no longer being incorrectly modified by Blade Flurry.
Creatures
Cursed Hozen Swabby now has a 2-second cooldown on their Rusty Shank ability.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Siege of Orgrimmar
Norushen
Players on Raid Finder difficulty with the Despair aura should no longer remain in the wrong phase when the fight ends. Look Within should now correctly favor selecting characters with higher levels of corruption for trials during the Norushen encounter on Raid Finder difficulty.
Sha of Pride
Sha of Pride no longer drops Droplet of Y'shaarj on Raid Finder difficulty. Alter Time no longer teleports players that have been banished on Heroic difficulty. Altered the visual effects of Bursting Pride, Swelling Pride, Aura of Pride, and Unstable Corruption to improve their clarity and visibility. Portals to Orgrimmar should now spawn properly after defeating the Sha of Pride and soft resetting the instance.
Galakras
Resetting the Galakras encounter should no longer cause doors to the towers to remain closed.
Siegecrafter Blackfuse
Siegecrafter Blackfuse will no longer Overcharge more than one cluster of Crawler Mines per wave on Heroic difficulty.
Garrosh Hellscream
Removing the Touch of Y'Shaarj or Empowered Touch of Y'Shaarj debuff now also removes Weakened Blows, Mortal Wounds, and Master Poisoner effects from the player. Garrosh no longer has a chance to critically hit when under the effects of Leader of the Pack or other similar buffs from players that have been mind controlled by Touch of Y'Shaarj.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
The Crowd Chose You should now be correctly applied to players that are under the effects of Cyclone. The Conquest vendors have been restored. Fixed an issue where a number of players had a higher than intended Conquest cap.
Proving Grounds
Healer Trials
NPC party members should now be better at moving out of the fire, and use their area-of-effect attacks and swap targets correctly. Large Illusionary Flamecallers no longer cast Pyroblast against targets that have been recently hit by a Fireball.
Items
Toy Windmill should now only summon 1 Windmill Lance.
Timeless Isle
Fixed quest tracking issues that affected some of the quests on the Timeless Isle.
Brewfest
[Requires realm restarts] Keg-Shaped Treasure Chest should now be awarding level-90 items.
(source)